The Tamil Film Producers Council is mulling launching three entertainment channels: movies, comedy and music, to address the issue of monetisation of hundreds of unreleased Tamil films.
TFPC president and actor Vishal on Saturday said that the Council was discussing the details on launching entertainment channels. “We are thrashing out the details and we will know in a month what these channels are going to be. Every stakeholder will be a part of this effort. The idea is to benefit the entire industry,” said the actor.
A well-known producer who was part of these discussions said that venturing into the satellite television business was not something they wanted to do.
“This has now become a necessity, a need for us,” said the producer.
Stating that the producers of small budget films were taken for granted, he said, “If people aren't ready to give what we deserve, we will have to set up our own channel. If 250 films are made and released, satellite rights are being sold for only 50 films.
“The rest of the films remain unsold even while the television channels make money playing songs, conducting interviews with stars, comedy clips and so on. This revenue is not shared with us. This is a problem. We want to change this equation.” The arrival of video streaming sites such as Amazon, Netflix and Hotstar had turned the market more competitive, said a television executive, involved in acquiring movies.
“Obviously, all the 200 films will not be sold. But the market has improved a lot. Star Vijay, Zee TV and Sun TV are competing in the market. It is learnt that Kalaignar TV will also start acquiring movies after three months. Television channels which were previously insistent on buying both the television and the internet streaming rights are now willing to buy what is available. This is a good start,” the TV executive added.
